The scene of John Cusack holding a boom box over his head, standing under the window of Ione Skye’s Diane Court, is now considered rom-com royalty. But the scene almost did not happen, as the actor did not want to perform it. Instead, filmmaker Cameron Crowe had to trick Cusack into performing the scene that would later become iconic in cinema history.
Crowe spoke about this in a recent interview.
Cameron Crowe reveals how the boom box scene in Say Anything was filmed
Say Anything became one of the most successful rom-coms in history, and John Cusack‘s boom box scene turned into a pop culture phenomenon. But Cusack did not believe they should include this scene in the movie. Cameron Crowe eventually tricked the actor into filming it.
Crowe talked about this in a new interview with The New York Times. He said, “He felt like it was a subservient act: Why does Lloyd have to be a wuss like that? We struggled with how to get that scene.” He went on to describe how they finally got the scene right.
“The legendary cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs knew that we’d been battling. We had actually shot the scene where Cusack had the boom box on the hood of a car, and he was saying, ‘That’s more what I would do.'” Crowe recalled. “Laszlo leaned over and whispered in my ear, ‘Don’t worry, there’s no film in the camera,'” He added. Crowe explained how they schemed together to film the scene.
Crowe recalled how they ultimately got the scene. He said, “On the last day, as we were losing the sun, he said: ‘I found a place across the street that would be good, and the car is parked there. Let’s get him across the street and see if we can get it.’ So we ran across the street. [John] said, ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ So he was holding up the boom box, visibly frustrated that he had to do it one more time. And you knew it watching in the monitor: That was the perfect emotion for the scene.”
Ultimately, the challenges behind the shoot paved the way for the scene that fans still remember today. Cusack remains immortalized with a boom box over his head. Audiences continue to remember Say Anything as one of the most iconic rom-coms ever made.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on ComingSoon.
